Dubai clinic to provide help for mentally ill children and their families

Camali Clinic, from the Arabic word for completeness, will deal with emotional, behavioural and learning difficulties in children under age 18.

Dr Fareeha Sadiq, head psychiatrist at Camali Clinic, said the concept of the clinic was to have all professionals under one roof. Pawan Singh / The National

A new multidisciplinary clinic opened its doors last week in Dubai to deal with children’s mental and emotional issues.

Camali Clinic, from the Arabic word for “completeness”, will deal with emotional, behavioural or learning difficulties along with providing assistance to the parents.

“The clinic is the only consultant-led service in Dubai that works within a truly integrative multidisciplinary framework so as to ensure a comprehensive treatment approach to child and adolescent mental health care,” said Dr Fareeha Amber Sadiq, lead psychiatrist at the clinic.

“Although there were some excellent individual practitioners working in the private sector, clear supervision or regulation of their practice was inconsistent and when young people needed assistance from a different type of professional the family would have to go to another service, translating into another wait, assessment and additional costs.”

She said the concept of the clinic is to have all professionals under one roof, providing an easier recovery journey for children and their families.

“In Dubai, there is a lack of good quality services for children and young people with emotional mental health difficulties. Many mental health problems seen in adulthood have links to emotional vulnerabilities in childhood and adolescence. Therefore, poor child mental health is a very important issue as it can greatly affect functioning not only now but also in the future,” she said.

The clinic will deal with children up to the age of 18, who have anxiety disorders, depression, behavioural disorders, learning difficulties and sleep and eating disorders.

Consultants will also look at children who have Attention Deficit and Hyperactive Disorder, Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Bipolar Affective Disorder.

“Often, the most help that the clinic can offer is an opportunity to talk listen and identify ways of overcoming the difficulties that the young person and families are experiencing,” Dr Sadiq said.

Recommended approaches include mostly individual work on the patients as well as family support.

A Developmental Training Centre will be available to provide intensive treatment and support for patients between the age of 5 and 18.

“The children and young people attending this programme may be experiencing mental health difficulties significant enough to result in prolonged absences from school and will benefit from a holistic approach to help improve their mental health,” Dr Sadiq said. “The comprehensive programme offers an environment that individualises the needs of each young person utilising the benefits of individual treatment, group therapy and educational assistance and support.”

She said the children will be encouraged to continue with their educational studies to be able to manage the transition back into mainstream education.